Manipulation
by SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd
Summary: The peaceful planet Mobius has been infiltrated by humans from Earth, intent on researching the life it contains. Sonic, tortured and traumatized, has escaped from their clutches and recruited refugees who have taken shelter underground. Together, they must rise up against the humans' tightening grip on their world. But their fierce hold reaches farther than they think. STH-N
1. Awakening

**Manipulation**

**Chapter 1 - Awakening**

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><p>Two voices.<p>

_"What is that, Daddy?"_

Two voices speak through the cloudy static.

_"A specimen, son. One of the creatures from Project 21."_

Project 21?

_"What's Project 21?"_

What _is _Project 21?

_"Each of the creatures we're studying has a project number."_

I am Project 21.

_"Will it wake?"_

Am I awake?

_"Not likely. See that liquid he's floating in? That's called suspended animation."_

So that's why my body feels as heavy as lead.

_"Oh."_

A third voice that is among the mumble of background noise speaks up. I can't tell what it says.

_"That's fine, dose it again," _the older voice says.

Yet another needle stabs me, this time in my back. They're injecting yet another drug into my body. I feel it entering my veins. It hurts. My back arches in pain, and a muzzle prevents me from crying out. That's all it takes. That's all _I _can take. I start to move, pulling the restraints enough to get my hands around the metal mouth guard and tear it away. I still can't breathe, and I still can barely move. I open my eyes, but the fluid clouds my vision. I move slowly to place my hands on the sides of the container confining me, to test it. _I can break this._

I muster whatever strength I have to pull my leg back and then slam it into the glass. I am lucky I'm so strong. Thin cracks splay out from where I made impact. So I do it again. And again. On the third try, the glass crackles, the entire cylinder of it crisscrossed with cracks and tiny fragments ready to fall. It stays still for a moment, and I wonder if I should kick it once more. Then the pieces fall away, at first one by one, then all at once. They shower to the floor, larger pieces shattering when they fall and adding to the mess. The fluid goes with it, coating the floor in a slippery, transparent liquid film. Now free from the dense substance that limited my movements, I snap the chains binding my wrists with a simple tug of my arms. How dumb of the scientists. They didn't shackle my legs.

I fall to the ground, intending to land on my feet, but I'm too weak from all that they've done to me. I lose my balance and fall forward, cutting my arms and legs on the broken glass. Unfazed, I scramble to my feet and start to run toward the door.

_SLAM! _ The door closes and I'm stopped short. A white-haired scientist stands by a panel, his hand on the scan pad. A little boy stands behind him, sheltering himself, looking scared.

My brain screams at me. _Humans! These are the humans that have captured you and your people! They are hurting you! Don't leave them in peace!_

Involuntarily, my hands curl into fists and I lunge at the scientist by the door. He's too slow to stop me. I grab the man that closed the door, his head in my arms. Other scientists try to stop me, but I glare at them and snarl, my fangs bared. They stop short, knowing I will attack them too. They watch me. They want a show? That's what they'll get.

With a swift jerk of my arm, the man's neck is broken. He goes limp. I grab his wrist and slam his hand on the panel so hard I hear the bones crack. The door opens. Vaguely, I hear the boy's screaming and the bustle of the scientists as I run out the door.

_Bang! Bang! Ba-bang! _ Gunshots follow me down the hall. Some get lucky and hit me in the arm, in the back, in the leg. But they don't stop me. I hardly feel the pain. I'm already impaired by sedative and unknown drugs. They dull the pain to almost nil. My whole body, in fact, is numb and heavy. _But I can't stop. I must escape. I must escape my prison._

Red lights flash and alarms sound, but I barely pay attention to them. I can only keep moving forward, letting my feet and my instinct guide me. The labs are very poorly protected. Guards with guns try to get in my way, but I run past them, over them, through them, away. I know my body is taking a beating. But my mind remains mostly unscathed. My eyes dart around, looking for an exit. I don't even know where I'm going. I turn corner after corner, run straight, detour, backtrack, move forward. I do anything to throw off the ones chasing me and to find a way out. _I _will _find a way out._

My mind is now going foggy and my vision is going black. I start seeing things, not unlike the nightmares I've faced while in this facility. I see flashes of images of a black room with a single, dim light. I see computer screens. I see humans talking. They talk about me. I see my friends in the same state I'm in. I push these images away. I know I'm on the verge of blacking out. I can't black out now. I'm almost out. _I'm almost there._

Light. Doors. A way out. But it's closing. I push myself to the very limit, accelerate, crouch, and roll underneath just in time. The doors slam shut behind me. _I'm out._

My body is bloodied, weak, and heavy. I am shacked but no longer chained. I'm free. I run outside a city, the new invigorating reality of freedom filling my brain with a new kind of bliss, and I speed up. Faster. Faster. Run faster. I have somewhere to be. With the bliss comes uncertainty, confusion, and worry. Sleep continuously tugs at my brain, and I struggle to stay awake. I don't know how long it's been. When was I last with my friends? When had the humans come? When was this city built? Time was lost to me now.

I don't know how long I've been running, but at some point the buildings shifted to trees, trees, and more trees. My eyelids droop, and I can't run anymore. My footsteps slow and I collapse, rolling to the base of a hill. My brain has already sunk into a deep sleep before I reach the bottom.

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><p><strong>((Hey guys! This is SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd here with another story. This story has been in existence for a while now, actually, and is going through many changes. I got the idea for the first chapter, the scene in the lab up until Sonic ran out of the suspended animation room, from my friend Rocket913, who I'm friends with on Instagram. She's an amazing writer, you should check her out! Just thought I'd point that out, since it's pretty important.<strong>

**If you are very confused and wondering why this is so similar to one of my other stories (entitled ****_Where the Wind Won't Blow_****), it's because I changed the name and completely revised the first chapter to this. This is a story I started over a year ago. I'm finally interested in writing this again after forgetting about it, because I re-read what I had already written and I realized how good it was! The story has been written in various notebooks up until now, and I have a good portion of the story planned out. In January I posted the original first chapter (with a bit of editing) under the name of ****_Where the Wind Won't Blow_****, and recently I rewrote it and shortened it to post on Instagram as the caption to a photo. Everyone loved it and wondered if it was a fanfic. I realized that the version I wrote on Instagram was better than the original, so now I've decided that the style I wrote it in is better than the style, if there was one, which I wrote the original story in. The chapter you just read is a lengthened version of the caption I posted on Instagram. I've decided I'm going to rewrite the story from scratch instead of typing it up while looking off of the notebook. I have to share it!**

**Follow, favorite, and review! I really hope you like this story; it's one of my favorites to write. Love you all! :D))**

**~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd**


	2. Search

**Manipulation**

**Chapter 2 - Search**

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><p><em>"Sonic, they're coming!"<em>

_I could see Sally faintly in the dim light given off by the streetlamps. Mobians were walking quickly into the Capital Building, murmuring in panicked voices or trying to calm crying children. I looked back at the nearing headlights coming through the field toward the group. They wouldn't get in fast enough; we didn't have enough time._

_"What do you want me to do?" I called._

_"I don't know, hurry them up!" Sally shouted back._

_I frowned, knowing I couldn't do that. I could tell that the vehicles were already in the city. If I didn't do something fast, more people would be captured by the humans. I looked at Sally._

_"You get them in, I'll distract the humans."_

_"Sonic, if you go, you'll get—"_

_I held up my hand. "I know the consequences, Sally, but if I don't slow them down, none of us will make it."_

_She hesitantly nodded and disappeared into the crowed. I walked toward the convoy of trucks. I heard the humans yelling orders to each other from within. Without further hesitation, I jumped into the air and curled into a ball, using a spin-attack on the engines of the vehicles, causing their hoods to buckle. I heard the satisfying crunch of metal that I had been listening for. Fire and smoke rose from beneath the crumpled hoods. That oughta slow them down._

_I noticed humans poking their heads out of the vehicles, looking to see what had caused them to stop. I stood on the hood of one car and back-flipped off of it. They pointed at me and talked amongst themselves, and I didn't notice one aiming a dart gun at me. I felt a prick of pain in my neck, and I clamped my hand down on the dart, pulling it out of my veins. It was feathered, a dart used in hunting wild animals. The tranquilizer had already been injected into my bloodstream. My eyes widened._

_"Shoot."_

_I was about to turn around and run back to the group when a net was thrown over me, entangling me. I struggled, but that only made it worse. The tranquilizer was already starting to take effect, slowing my movements and making my limbs and eyelids feel heavy. Through blurred vision, I saw the last of the people being evacuated slip into the building and the doors start to close, with the anxious faces of my friends looking out at me. I tried to call out to them, but my throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton. My vision blacked out, and my thoughts rang loud in my ears._

_"I was fast enough to save my comrades, but too slow to save myself."_

I am woken from my dream by bright light. It had been about the day I was captured, a recurring dream that seemed to be taunting me. I open my eyes to see sunlight streaming through tall trees around me. I sit up suddenly with a gasp, not recognizing where I am or what I'm doing here, "here" being in a forest in the middle of nowhere. I try to remember, but all I get is blackness, as if I was passed out for a long period of time. This makes me panic a little; the last thing I remember was being tested on in a laboratory, syringes injecting me with strange liquids and drawing out my blood. I'm not hallucinating, am I? Did I really escape that hell? Am I really free?

I feel a stinging in my hands and look down at my palms. My gloves are torn and frayed and dirty, the flesh underneath cut and bleeding. I spot small fragments of glass stuck in the fibers of my gloves. I remove them to look at my bare hands. They are calloused from over ten years of fighting and training, but now they bear fresh bruises and scrapes. I look around, and luckily, I had landed near a small stream. I crawl over to it and start washing my hands and gloves gently in the clear water. I can see the pebbles at the bottom, with little silver fish darting around in the water weeds that grow there. Cattails and tall grasses grow at the edges of the stream while wildflowers add color to the dead leaves and weeds on the forest floor. The late afternoon sun shining through the trees casts a happy glow on the plants around me, making them look a little greener. I smile a little. It feels like I haven't seen a serene place like this in years.

Eventually I finish cleaning the cuts on my hands and put my gloves back on. Despite their torn condition, they still protect my hands. I don't really know where I am, but I know what direction to go. I run off into the forest, in the direction of the sun. The first thing on my mind is finding something, or someone, familiar. If I could get to a Mobian town, I'd be on the right track. I know that most Mobian towns are in the West, where the sun is already beginning to set. Surely, there's something there. The forest stretches on, and I keep to an even pace as I run toward the sun. Eventually I see it start to thin out and give way to a rather dry expanse of field. The grass is trampled and dead in one long and wide area, as if a large army or big group of vehicles had ridden through. I frown and run in the wake left behind by the unknown objects.

They lead me to a small, familiar city. Buildings rise dozens of stories above me, the sun only peeking out between them now and then as I run. I slow down to a walk. Something is different. The usually lively city is quiet, and there's nobody in sight. The buildings are dark and desolate, and it seems that everyone had vanished in the middle of what they were doing. Vehicles, vendor carts, even bikes and scooters litter the road. A newspaper blows by me. I quickly snatch up the copy of the _Mobian Times_, and wince at a stiffness in my limbs. It seems I'd been idle for a while before I wound up in the forest. I looked at the top story with interest. It seems to be a pretty old newspaper, dating back to over six months ago. However, I recognize the story.

**_Humans of Earth Invade Mobian Towns_**

_Day 47, Month 2, Year 3227_

_Last month, a panic was struck as rocket ships from the sister planet Earth suddenly appeared out of thin air on the uninhabited parts of Downunda. Recently, there have been many sightings of Earthling technology and even human beings near our towns and homes in our own country. Now, they've started invading and attacking our towns and cities, taking citizens forcefully and driving others out._

_There is no accurate estimate as to the number of missing Mobians, but it is believed that they have been taken for human research and experiments on the life on Mobius._

_"We are evacuating as many cities as possible," Princess Sally Acorn, Freedom Fighter leader tells MT. "We're working with [the Royal Army] to get as many people as we can away from the humans."_

_We questioned the already well-known Sonic the Hedgehog on what the Freedom Fighters were planning to do with this crisis._

_"Fight, of course," Sonic had said. "Dr. Eggman or humans, it makes no difference. The mission to help people is always the same. Sit tight, we'll be there, just maybe not as fast as I'd like."_

_Refer to page __**A1**__, article __**New Threat.**_

I look up at the city. Of course; I had been trying to evacuate this very city, Westopolis, when I was captured. I know now that it's been at least six months since that day. I've been gone for six months. Who knows what's occurred in that amount of time? It makes me nervous to think about it. Where are my friends? What happened to the Freedom Fighters? Were they captured? Did I unknowingly leave them behind at the laboratory?

I decide that the best place to look first is where everyone was supposed to evacuate to; the Capital Hall basement. Unless they were moved, that's where all my friends would be, right? I run off through the abandoned streets to find the building.

It's strange, being in a place that is usually so cheerful and full of people roaming the streets that is now empty and lonely. I stop and pick up a doll that was dropped in a puddle by a little girl in her rush to get to safety. The doll is dirty and trampled, one button eye attached by a single fraying thread. If there _is_ a lost little girl in the Capital Hall basement, she should have something to comfort her. I tuck it away and run off again.

The Capital Hall is a tall, domed marble building, usually shining and polished. However, six months have allowed it to fall into disrepair. Cracks have formed along the stone, and vines of ivy are climbing along the surface and around the pillars. The front entrance is now a gaping, crumbling hole, as if it had been bombed in an attempt to reach the inside. My fists clench. _There's no way they got in._

The inside is dark other than patches of light from the setting sun. The beautiful murals that are painted on the walls are faded and torn, looking sad in their forgotten state. Dust covers the floor and every object further into the building, and as I walk, my footprints are imprinted in the layer of gray fluff beneath me. I recall the path Sally told me to take to the basement; take a left at the first hallway, take the elevator down. However, if she succeeded in taking the escapees to the basement, the cables to the elevator would have been snapped and the stairwells blocked. I push the down arrow for the elevator. Sure enough, there is no indication that it works. Across the hall, I find the staircases, and head down. My heart sinks. It is not blocked.

The basement is very dank and clothed in darkness. My ears turn, listening for any sound. All I can hear is the faint drip, drip, drip of water from leaky pipes. The lights aren't working; the power must be out. I call out, but all I hear are the scurry of small rodents, such as rats or mice, and the echo of my own voice. I feel a sinking feeling in my stomach and my ears slowly droop. There is no indication that anyone has been here at all in the last six months. My hope is stifled and put out, as if the darkness smothers even my spirits. I lean against the wall and sink to the floor. My friends, plus the innocent escapees they were leading, must not have made it here.

I sit in silence for many minutes, trying to figure out what to do next. Maybe they did go someplace else. If that was the case, I wouldn't know the first place to look. Freedom Fighter Headquarters is far too exposed and too small to harbor thousands of innocents. I wish I had paid attention during the meetings discussing our plans for the evacuation. How desperately I regret it…

After a long while, I take a deep breath of the musty air and stand. The only thing I can do now is continue on, to find a way to live, and to think of a way to get my friends back, if so taken by the humans. With spirits dampened, I make my way back outside.

Night has fallen, and I can see the moon casting a pale green glow on the grounds outside the Capital Hall.

Wait…

_Green glow?_

No, the light is too bright, and moonlight is not green. I pick up the pace to investigate. Floating several feet above the ground is a shining green gem, about the size of my fist. I recognize it immediately as a Chaos Emerald, one of seven miracle gems in existence. However, I have enough experience with the Chaos Emeralds to recognize that the power I sense emanating from it is much weaker and differs from what I know. Even so, I'm drawn to it like a moth to the flame. I reach for the Emerald, which is glowing softly…

"Don't touch that."

I jump a bit, startled. Behind me is a female Mobian in a cloak, which shadows her face. However, I can feel her gaze on me, and I feel frozen. Based on her voice and size, she's my age, if not a year older.

"It's meant to lure in humans," she says.

I open my mouth to speak, but she interrupts me.

"Come with me." She walks off.

"H-Hey, wait!" I call before hurrying after her.

The girl leads me into one of the abandoned buildings, which is just as bleak as all the others. She takes out a flashlight from a coat pocket and leads me down to the basement. Then she stops, turns to me, and starts patting me down.

"Hey, whoa!" I cry. "I only just met you, you can't—"

"Shush," she hisses. I hear two beeps and see lines on the gloves she's wearing flash green. She takes off the gloves and tucks them in her pocket.

"You're clear," she says. Then she turns back around to face a wall, which is made out of stone. From her pocket, she fishes out what looks like an odd-shaped credit card and slips the end into a neat crack in the wall. She outlines the crack, which forms a rectangle, taller than either of us. I realize it's the outline of a door. The outline glows a pale cyan, then I hear another beep and the portion of the wall slides away with the sound of stone against stone. Before us is a doorway leading to a staircase going down. The girl puts down her hood and turns to me with a smile.

"My name is Alex the Wolf," she says. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sonic the Hedgehog."

"I—Thank you," I say.

I get a good look at her face now. She's a gray fox with golden eyes. Her silvery hair is put in a neat braid that hangs nearly to her knees. Her bangs are long and swept to one side, covering one eye. Before I can ask anything about her, with a swish of her cloak, she disappears down the staircase. When I hesitate at first, she turns around.

"C'mon!"

So I follow her into the darkness.

Down, down the stairs wind, deeper into the earth. The place looks like it had been dug out some time ago, with scraggly roots hanging from the ceiling and hardened dirt making up the tunnel. Every few feet a flickering torch lights the path. I keep my footing on the uneven steps, and Alex seems to know her way as well. We eventually reach a landing with a single door with no knob and no key pad, identical to the one above. Alex again takes out her key card and scans it in the cracks that outline the doorway. It beeps and slides open to reveal a cavernous room. It's empty except for a few light fixtures on the walls. Another sealed door is on the other side of the room.

"Wait here," Alex says, and she exits. Through the doorway, I only briefly see a brightly lit area that's far too big to see what it exactly is; the door closes before I can make it out. I'm alone in the room.

For several minutes, I pace the room, wondering what in the world is going on. Five minutes pass. Then ten minutes pass. I keep track of the time based on my footsteps, which count the seconds. Finally, the door opens, and Alex returns.

"Welcome to the Underground," she smiles, and leads me out.

I am greeted by brilliant light and a thousand cheering voices screaming my name.

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><p><strong> ((IT'S SUMMER! Actually, I've been out of school for just over a week, I just haven't been in the mood to write until now. I don't have much to say other than I hope you're all enjoying this story! It's gonna be one of my best yet!<strong>

**Stay tuned for more chapters, updates, and stories. Follows, favorites, and reviews are greatly accepted! Well, until next time!))**

**~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd**


	3. Sanctuary

**Manipulation**

**Chapter 3 – Sanctuary **

_I stood in a white room with glaring fluorescent lights. The walls were mirrors. Strange human equipment sat around. I knew they were watching. They were monitoring me behind one of these walls. I saw a camera and fixed my gaze on it, glaring. They can't force me to do what they want. I won't let them see what they want to see._

_"Can you hear us?"_

_Human voices spoke through hidden speakers. My ears perked involuntarily, giving me away._

_"Good, listen closely. Based on previous tests, we know that you can understand us, and are a very arrogant being. You know what we're trying to do, and you are trying to give us as little information as possible. You think it's working."_

_I tipped my head a little, my face stony. My fingers twitched in anticipation. I wanted to do something, to get out of here. All I've seen lately are white walls and bright lights. It made me anxious to get back out into the real world._

_"You will do what we expect, whether you want to or not," the human said. "Today we're looking to see how you respond to certain stimuli. You seem to have violent tendencies toward us. Based on other previous knowledge, we'd like to see how you react to machines."_

_Machines. Who would've thought that machines were the only thing I'd been fighting before I was captured? I now had living beings to fight. No, I'm fighting their curiosity. They wanted to know about me, a Mobian, and I wouldn't give it to them. I could only hope all the other captured Mobians had the same resolve not to speak or act, like we were one group rebelling. I didn't move._

_"Let's get started."_

_One of the mirror panels slid away. Robots with treads came out, and they were familiar. I peered closely at them._

_Eggman. These bots were created by Eggman._

_I ground my teeth. I shouldn't be surprised. Eggman's human, just like them. Of course he'd work with them. He's no different than them._

_Did they know I was his arch enemy?_

_Despite these realizations, I showed only curiosity toward the robots, walking up to them and peering closely at them, then I walked away, nose upturned, as any arrogant animal might._

_"You really are a strange one," the human said. "But we'll get information out of you, no matter what it takes."_

"Sonic! Sonic! Sonic! Sonic!"

I look out, and see that I'm standing on a raised pathway carved into a wall that seems to stretch on for a great distance, curving gently. A crowd is gathered nearby, watching and cheering below me. There are probably tens of thousands of them, if not more. They look worn, but healthy. They're fed, clean, thriving here. "Here" seems to be a great, vast city under a dome of stone. The buildings aren't all that tall, but there are many of them, stretching for miles. The centerpiece of the town is a large fountain, taller than any building. The statue of a Mobian points toward apex the ceiling, which is hundreds of feet above us, where a giant, glowing hunk of crystal provides light for the city. Every structure seems to be made of stone; the buildings, the fountain, the roads; there are even stone planters with living trees, flowers, and other plants. There are even green spaces with grass. Pipes snake along the ceiling, and I can see sprinkler systems and lots of large air vents. Along the walls I can see multiple doors and pathways leading to them. The place is very detailed, formed over hundreds of years for the safety of these people.

I can't help but smile. This is where all the evacuees have gone too. This is where they've been living for the past six months, though the city had existed long before that. I've heard about it before, but I didn't know it existed. This city was carved hundreds of years ago and was continuously added on to through the generations. It was meant to be a sanctuary for major disasters. It has been updated and cared for since then, but until now, it hasn't been needed. It could have been used when Eggman, AKA Robotnik, first took over, but most of the survivors didn't even know about its existence at that point. Now, it's become a home for these refugees.

The crowd cheers and I wave with a laugh. Alex smiles.

"You look pretty beat up," Alex says. "Let's get you patched up and then we'll get you caught up on what's going on here."

She leads me off to a white building with a red cross painted on the front, indicating it was for medical purposes. In a room, she starts to bandage my injuries, which I had otherwise forgotten I had endured due to adrenaline and distractions. I had been too caught up in my search for my friends to notice or care about the pain, which was dull. As Alex treats me, I look around. My time being tested on by humans has not left my mind unscathed. I'm alert, searching for hidden cameras or panels in the walls. The room is white, like most of the rooms I had been in while being tested on. Paranoia sets in, and I jerk away from Alex, forgetting where I was. These white walls now terrify me.

"Sonic," Alex says gently. "Are you okay?"

I look at her, and my mind clears, remembering where I was, and nod. "Sorry," I say. "I'm not used to this."

She smiles. "It's okay. I'm finished." She stands up, and I do as well.

"I'll get you a key card and we'll find your quarters," she says, and we leave the white medical room. She takes me to a lot with parked hover scooters on the edge of the city. Several slots were missing. Beside the scooters were electrical boxes with a slot for her card, which I guessed was the key card she spoke of. As I suspected, she slid the card through the slot by one scooter and I heard a click of a lock opening.

"Do you want to use one of these?" she asks. I know what she was expecting me to say, and that she didn't want to be rude in case I wasn't well enough to run.

"Nah, do you know who you're talking to?" I ask with a grin. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing alive! I'll follow you there."

She smiles. "I figured." She hops on the scooter, kickstarting it, and she speeds off. I run close behind. The scooter is faster than I expected, but not nearly as fast as me. No, it doesn't come close. Even so, it's a short ride/run to the next destination.

"Wait here," Alex says, parking the scooter in a lot, and I hear it lock into place. She heads inside the large, domed building, which I could guess was a city hall. It's almost identical to the one I had gone in to look for everyone in Westopolis, though made of stone, like everything else. She isn't gone long; she returns ten minutes later with a card, a twin of her own, and hands it to me.

"This will allow you to get in and out of the compound, and into various buildings in the city," she says. "It's also the key to your house, specific to your place. Wanna see it?"

"Sure!" I say.

She leads me off to the houses set into the stone wall. They look like simple dome doorways, the rest of the house built into the wall of stone and earth surrounding the city. I swipe my card, and the door slides open. The inside is a small dome of stone, with windows at the front of the house looking out at the streets. Several rugs cover the floor, fluffy and thick to keep out the cold of the underground. There are some simple furniture, the couch and chairs mismatched, a fireplace (I had seen vents outside of the house on the wall for the smoke), and a radio on the table. There is a basic bathroom and kitchen off to the right, and a bedroom to the left, all the rooms half-dome-shaped with arched doorways leading to them.

"What do you think?" Alex asks quietly. "I mean, it isn't much, and most of the supplies and furniture were collected around cities above ground…"

"It's perfect," I say softly, without hesitation.

"You think so?" she sounds surprised. "I wish we could do more; you're pretty famous as the Hero of Mobius, you at least deserve—"

"I spent six months in a lab where I was tested, tortured, and confined," I interrupt stiffly. My voice softens and I smile. "This is better than anything I could have hoped for."

She smiles. "I'm glad…"

I smile at her.

"Well…dinner is at 17:00," she says. "I'll take you to the dining hall around that time."

I nod. "Thank you. For everything."

She nods and leaves. I sigh and plop down on the couch. I hadn't sat down for more than thirty seconds when my doorbell rang. I sigh and get up, then open the door. The first person I see is a young, yellow, two-tailed fox waiting eagerly for me.

"Tails…" I sigh with relief and hug him.

"Sonic…" he sighs and hugs me back.

"Don't forget about us!" I feel a large hand hit my back in a friendly way, but I can feel the strength behind it. The hand belongs to Knuckles the Echidna, and as soon as I release Tails, I'm glomped by a girl who cries out my name. I recognize the red dress and pink, short quills as Amy Rose's. My chest feels wet where her head rests against it, and I realize that she's crying. My friends have come to see me, now that I'm back after six months.

"Come inside, sit down," I say. I take a step aside and let them in. They enter and sit down on the couches and chairs while I lean against the wall by the fireplace, even though there's a free chair.

"What have you guys been up to?" I ask.

"You first," Tails says. "We've been worried about you, Sonic. You've been gone for a long time."

"We were beginning to think that…" Amy sniffs, still upset, "…that you'd been killed!"

I shake my head. "I can't be killed by those humans," I say, "though they came close."

"What do you mean?" Knuckles asks.

I begin to tell them, sparing certain excruciating details, of how I was tested on, questioned, and more or less tortured. I had spent a lot of time in a subconscious or unconscious state as they tested on me, trying to figure out what exactly I am. I could have told them, yelled at them, attacked them, whatever, but I had held back for the sake of sparing them information about me, giving them as little as possible. I hadn't run, I hadn't spoken. They wouldn't get anything from me.

"Sonic, doing that would only make them try harder to get information," Tails puts in with concern. "That's why they were so rough with you. They must've been determined."

"But why were they determined?" I point out. "Other people were captured. I don't know how many, but from what I overheard the scientists, there were over three hundred. Some of them seemed to have escaped at certain points, others killed, but I heard them say a lot of them were adamant about being tested on, so they must not be getting much information from other Mobians as well."

"There was a secret message given to everyone in the newspaper when the first attacks began," Knuckles says, "saying that if anyone was to be captured, they were to do their best not to give up information about our people, no matter what the cost. Apparently that still holds true."

I nod. "I think I remember that. But if they were as rough with them as they were to me, I don't know how many of them would be able to take it, especially children."

"There were children captured?!" Amy cries.

I nod solemnly. "I saw a few while I was there."

This puts her through another fit of sobs.

"It sounds horrible," Tails says. "There's a rebel alliance here in the Underground, similar to the Freedom Fighters and led by Sally. They've tried multiple times to get people out, but all of the attempts were unsuccessful. I think they just lack a good plan."

"I'll join them," I say, "and I'll help them free those people. I know a majority of my way around that place. Have any of the escapees made it here?"

All three shake their heads.

"You're the first," Amy says, "which is a bigger relief than you know, now that you're here."

"People are scared, Sonic," Tails says. "They're afraid to go outside. There are only a few people who volunteer to patrol and guard the entrances in the city. You met Alex, she was one of them. She was patrolling when she found you."

This strikes a memory. "There's a Chaos Emerald in front of the City Hall up there," I say suddenly. "What's it doing there?"

"It's a fake," Knuckles grins. "It's the Underground Rebels' latest plan, a fake Chaos Emerald that will allow us to get into and spy on the humans. They come around here every few days and search the area for any other Mobians they missed and other information about Mobius. When they come back, we hope they'll take it."

"Smart," I grin.

"Within a few weeks, we should be able to get in without a hitch," Tails says. smiling.

"It was his idea," Amy says, looking at Tails with awe.

Tails blushes. "It wasn't that big a deal…"

"I'll say it is," I smile and give him a thumbs up. "Nice work, buddy."

He smiles humbly.

"So you didn't answer my question. What do you guys do here?" I ask.

"I work in the kitchens," Amy explains. "There are a lot of people to feed, but lots of people volunteer to cook and gather food from secret gardens. They use an irrigation system Rotor and Tails came up with to allow rain water from the surface to come through pipes, as well as artificial light. It's really genius. The food isn't as good as surface-grown, but we've survived on them and stayed relatively healthy."

"At least there's food," I reply. "What about you guys?"

"I'm a mechanic, just like before the humans came," Tails says.

"I help patrol the entrances once in a while," Knuckles says proudly, "and I guard the Master Emerald as well as the Chaos Emeralds. We have four of them here."

"Sounds like you guys help out a lot here," I note.

"There's a lot to do," Amy says. "This place inhabits 320,000 people from multiple cities. It's a big community, and growing slowly."

The clock on my wall interrupts us by chiming five times, indicating it's time to eat.

"Let's go," Knuckles says. "I want the good stuff before it's gone!"

**((Hey, everyone! I'm so sorry for taking so long to post a chapter. My family moved, so we were busy packing, then we went on vacation a couple weeks ago, and we haven't had Internet at the new house since then. The Internet guys were supposed to come last week, but they didn't show up to set it up, which made me REALLY mad. Then my phone reached its high-speed data limit, so I couldn't watch videos and going on Fanfiction on there became a pain. I was able to type this chapter up while I didn't have Internet but couldn't post it until today. I'll be busy with school now, so my apologies!**

**Thanks for sticking around!))**

**~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd**


	4. Helping Hand

**Manipulation**

**Chapter 4 – Helping Hand**

_- Day 29/193 -_

_It's hard to tell how much time has passed._

_The humans had kept me locked in the same room for days with no food and very little water. I was starving. I was shackled at the wrists and ankles, with only a small, barred window for light. My tallies on the wall say I've been in this room for about a week. How long I'd been with the humans, tested on daily, was a mystery to me._

_I felt hollow, and my stomach ached, yearning for food. I had had barely enough water to keep me alive. There was a small mirror on one of the walls. My cheeks already looked shallow, and I had dark shadows under my eyes and my faded blue quills were a mess. Even my green eyes looked dull. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to deny food when it was offered to me before this._

_Suddenly, I heard a grinding noise, like metal against metal. The heavy door to my cell scraped against the floor as it slid open. A person in a white hooded suit stepped in, carrying a chain. I couldn't even tell if it was a male or a female. Those suits seemed to be all these humans seemed to wear here, besides lab coats. The human clipped one end of the chain to my shackles while I recoiled, acting disgusted._

I'm not an animal, _I thought bitterly, though of course they saw me differently. It had become easy to hold my tongue._

_The human led me out of the cell by the chain, like a dog on a leash. I cringed at the suddenly brightly lit halls. I was barefoot, and my hands were freezing from the lack of gloves. I felt strangely naked, since the humans had taken my only clothes, beloved red sneakers and all, for analysis. It made me anxious to know they had my shoes, specially engineered by my uncle to be durable and speed-resistant. I shuddered at the thought of them copying the design for their own footwear._

_The last time I had been down these halls a week ago, I had been blindfolded and drugged. Now I could clearly see through windows into various cells containing other Mobians in the same condition I was in, or worse. Apparently the mirror had merely been a one-way window. I didn't know any of the locked up Mobians, but it disgusted me to see the torture they were going through. Some were younger than ten! I clenched my fists and resisted the chains pulling me, stopping in the hallway. I decided that for once I wouldn't take what they were doing to me and my people. _

I'll give them some information alright, _I thought. _Information to show them that they're not to mess with me.

_The human turned around and tugged me forward, urging me to keep going, but I stood firm, glaring at the person._

_"Come on, don't be stubborn," the human said, pulling on the chains again. I could now tell that it was a woman._

_I jerked myself away, startling the person handling me and pulling the chain right out of her hands. I picked it up and swung the end in a circle like a nun-chuck. My eyes were hard, and I struck out at the key pads used to open the cell doors. A large gash in the metal formed, revealing the sparking insides of the machine. The door buzzed and slid open. Alarms started going off. A little gray fox girl, about seven, stepped out of the cell and looked at me. Her aqua blue eyes were sunken, yet hopeful._

_"Thank you," she mouthed to me silently. I gave her a brief, yet genuine smile, my first since I was captured weeks ago._

_"Freeze!" the human woman shouted, pointing a gun at us. I had almost forgotten she was there. I struck out once again, hitting her wrist and making her drop the weapon. She cried out as the chain ripped the sleeve of her suit, whipping her wrist. I grabbed the little Mobian by her wrist and ran off at a normal speed, pulling her behind me. In case I didn't make it, I didn't want to show off my speed. Not yet._

_I wasn't running long before I found an emergency exit. I tried to push it open, but it wouldn't budge. I could hear the footsteps of the humans coming by now. I grit my teeth and forced myself upon the door, trying to shove it open. Having lost weight and muscle, it hurt, and finally I resorted to my naturally strong legs, kicking it off its hinges._

_"Go," I say under my breath, my voice hoarse. The girl nods and runs off. I'm about to follow her when I feel a sharp prick in my neck. I had let my guard down. I reached behind me and pulled out a feathered dart, one that was all too familiar. Almost immediately my vision started to go foggy. My immune system was weakened from malnutrition, despite how many times I'd been shot with this sedative. It was becoming faster-acting._

_I stumbled forward, trying to follow the girl, but I tripped and collapsed. A human grabbed the chains of my shackles firmly, making sure I didn't make a last-ditch effort to escape._

_"Project 21 obtained," a human said into a radio, "Project 172 escaped. Shall I call for reinforcements?_

_There was a muffled response on the other end, but I had already faded out. I prayed the girl was smart enough to evade the humans' search teams. I may not have been able to save more than one, but if word gets around that someone escaped, hope will spread like a wildfire._

I follow my friends down the streets of the Underground toward the Cafeteria, looking around me at anything I may have missed. It's a nice change of pace compared to the prisons and labs I had spent so much time in. Despite this place being underground, it's very bright and happy, and it feels safe. It's like a breath of fresh air after being suffocated for so long. There are kids playing in a little green space we pass, being called to eat by their parents. I think I see someone familiar, a little gray fox, but I shake my head, telling myself I'm seeing things. Then I smile to myself, glad to see so many happy people.

"Hey, Sonic! Hel-looo?" Knuckles waves his hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my reverie. "You're slippin', man," he says.

"Sorry," I mutter, scratching the back of my neck. "I'm still getting used to this place."

"Go easy on him, Knuckles," Tails says. "He just got here."

I smile a little gratefully. We stop in front of a rectangular building with the word "Cafeteria" painted over the doors. Knuckles pulls the double doors open and leads us inside. The Cafeteria is basically made up of one giant room with picnic tables lined up in rows. There's a line of people in front of the open kitchen windows, and delicious smells fill the room, making my stomach grumble. It's only then that I realize how hungry I am. It's been days since I last ate anything.

"The cooks made chili dogs for your return," someone says. I look away from the kitchens and see Alex walking up to us, who's smiling. "There should be a plate waiting for you up there."

I sigh with relief. "The one food I missed most."

Alex inclines her head slightly. "You go get your food, there're a few things I have to talk to you about at the table," she says.

I nod and get in line to get my food. After several minutes, with me bouncing on the balls of my feet impatiently, I finally get my reserved plate of chili dogs and a smile from the cooks. I head to a table where Alex is sitting, and my friends join me. I sit across from her and, before she can start talking, I start scarfing down my food. Amy giggles a little and my fast eating, and Alex smiles sadly.

"They didn't feed you much there, did they," she says.

I shake my head, both in agreement and disagreement. I swallow and look at her. "No, they fed me…most of the time. There were just a lot of times where I refused to eat."

Alex frowns. "Why would you refuse to eat?"

I just shrug and take another bite of my food.

"Not eating is not part of having a resolve," Tails says reproachfully. "That's starving yourself."

I close my eyes and take a breath through my nose. "When you're poked with needles and put through various pointless experiments until you just want to collapse and die, you see how hungry you are," I say stiffly.

Tails frowns and looks away.

"Still, though, it's over now," Amy says, cautiously resting her hand on my arm. I'm tempted to jerk away as an impulse. "And you're as skinny as a stick. You need to get your weight up."

I respond by eating more of my large dinner. My friends stay silent for the rest of the meal, concentrating on eating their food. It isn't long before my plate is clean.

"Hey, Sonic?" Amy breaks the silence.

"Yeah?"

"You never told us, but how exactly did you escape?" she asks. She seemed a little hesitant about asking the question.

I frown, trying to recount the events of last night, but nothing comes. I shake my head. "I don't know," I say. "I don't remember."

"You don't?" Amy sounds surprised, alarmed even.

"Nope," I say. "The last thing I remember is some human injecting me with a heavy sedative. And then I passed out. The next thing I knew, I was in a forest a few miles away from the labs, my shackles broken."

"I'm sure it'll come to you eventually," Alex said, but she sounded unsure.

"Probably," I say. Then I change the subject. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"How would you like me to show you where all the entrances are after dinner?" Alex asks.

"Sure," I smile. "We might as well go now, I'm done eating."

"Alright, just meet me at Entrance 6, where you came in," she says. I nod and she clears her place before walking out the door.

"I guess we'll see you later," Amy says.

"Yeah, after the tour I'm probably gonna hit the sack," I say, "but I'll meet up with you guys tomorrow."

"You rest easy, Sonic," Tails says with a smile, holding out his fist. I smile and perform our handshake, a bit surprised that I remember it.

"See ya later, buddy," Knuckles says, hitting me playfully on the shoulder. I laugh and they leave.

I'm about to pick up my place when I notice someone familiar. A small gray fox with her back to me is eating at a table with some other kids. Curious as to if it's who I think it is, I walk up to her and tap her shoulder. The girl turns around, and I'm almost startled by her bright blue eyes. They seem much more alive than the last time I saw them.

The little girl gasps happily and suddenly hugs my waist tightly. "It's you!" she exclaims.

I laugh lightly and hug the girl back. Indeed, this was the little girl I'd aided in escaping within my first month in the labs.

"I'm surprised you remember me," I say with a smile, looking down at her.

"How could I not?" she giggles, pulling away, looking up at me. "You saved me! And now you're out!"

"Yes, I am," I smile. "And I'm glad to see you're okay." I kneel down and look at her. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Anika," she says, bouncing on her toes. "I'm Alex's little sister."

I raise my eyebrows. "You are?"

She nods. "I've seen you hanging out with her. She found you outside, right?"

"Yup," I say. "She brought me here."

"Mr. Sonic," a chubby kid at her table says to me, "how did you help her escape?"

"Yeah, she keeps telling us this story with lasers and robots and stuff!" another small kid quips.

I laugh and Anika blushes beside me. "Really, all I did was get away from the person who led me, bust open the cell door closest to me, and led her to the exit," I say. "No lasers or robots, sorry."

The kids giggle a little and Anika pouts.

"So how did _you_ escape?" one kid asks.

"Here's the thing, I don't remember," I say with a small frown. "I blacked out, and when I woke up I was someplace else."

"Maybe they set you free!" the tiny kid says.

"Maybe," I say, but in truth, that was about as likely as Eggman weighing less than 200 pounds. I stood up. "Hey, I gotta go, but I'll catch you kids later, alright?"

The kids at the table groan a bit but agree. Then Anika tugs on the cuff of my glove.

"I'm glad to see you're safe," she whispers, as if it were a secret.

I smile. "Right back at ya."

A few minutes later, I walk up the pathway to Entrance 6, where Alex is waiting for me.

"What took you so long?" she asks.

"I was talking some kids in the cafeteria," I say. "One of them was a girl I helped escape within the first month of my capture. Her name was Anika, she said she was your sister."

Alex smiles a little. "Yeah, she is. I owe you a huge debt for that."

I shake my head. "You don't owe me anything. No one had escaped at that point…I wanted to change that. Thank Chaos she's safe."

"Thanks to you," Alex says. "I could spend my life trying to repay you. She would have died there."

I just nod. "Don't try too hard."

She smiles. "Let's go, shall we?"

"Let's do it to it," I say with a small smirk.

She smiles and uses her key card to unlock the door, and leads me up the long, winding stairs toward the surface.

"We're 10,000 feet underground," Alex says as we climb the stairs, "Unreachable by the humans. We have yet for one of them to discover us."

"Do all of the passages have stairs?" I ask. "It's a long climb."

"No, some have ramps for handicapped citizens of the Underground. This one just happens to have stairs. We're working on an elevator system."

"That will be so much easier."

Alex looks at me with a small smirk. "Getting tired, hedgehog?"

"Seeing as I was cooped up in a prison for six months, unable to run, yes, I'm a bit out of shape," I respond defensively.

Alex laughs.

After a few more minutes of climbing, I give up on the slow route. I suddenly pick her up from behind and run up the steps. She gasps and looks at me with surprise. I smile at her.

"Walking got boring," I say.

She laughs. "I can imagine you're sick of it."

I shrug. I soon reach the top of the stairs and use my new key card to open the door. On the inside versus the outside, there is a little slot for it in the wall. I slide it in and the door slides open.

"Heading out so soon?" a familiar voice says from the device.

"You're kidding me," I grin. "Nicole?"

"Welcome, Sonic," Nicole, the AI program, says.

"It was Sally's idea to install her," Alex says. "Nicole runs all major technology in the city."

"So Sally _is_ here," I say quietly, mostly to myself.

"Yeah, she just had to work and didn't get a chance to see you," Alex says.

"Guess I'll have to pay her a visit tomorrow," I say to Alex, then to the AI, "catch ya later, Nicole."

The two of us head out of the abandoned building in which the entrance was hidden. Out in the square, I noticed that the glow of the false Chaos Emerald was no longer present.

"They fell for it," Alex says excitedly.

"The fake Emerald?" I ask to clarify.

She nods. "You were told about that. Hopefully, in another week or so, we'll be able to access the base and free everyone."

"They don't have any real Chaos Emeralds, do they?" I ask.

"We have four of them," Alex says. "As far as we know, no, they don't. The other three are still missing. But if they do, and they compare energy signatures, we're screwed."

"Let's just hope all goes well," I say.

She nods. "It's definitely a wager. Anyway, let's get going, shall we?"

We begin walking around the city, and Alex shows me half a dozen secret entrances within Westopolis. In between places, I would pick her up and run her to wherever she told me to go, to cut down on walking all over the city. About an hour later, we stop in an abandoned park, standing near a drained water fountain where the last entrance was hidden, and she pulls out a map.

"The red dots pinpoint locations for entrances twenty miles around the city," she says as she hands me the map. "You hold on to this, it'll help you get around."

"Thanks," I say, folding it and putting it away.

"That's about all I can show you right now," she says. "Ready to head back?"

I don't respond. A piece of paper fluttering in the wind catches my eye. I walk over to a trash can where, blown up against it, was a new newspaper. I pick it up and shake it out. The headlining story caught my attention, and the attached photo was circled in red marker. This was the humans' newspaper, Earthland Gazette. The photo was a grainy, colored photo of me, sitting in one of the cells at the human laboratory, glaring at the camera that had been placed in the corner of the room. The story read;

**_Project 21 At Large_**

_Last night, there was a great commotion in Lab 7 as Project 21, a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog, awoke from suspended animation and began an unprovoked rampage throughout the building. How Project 21 awoke from the state baffles the scientists who were running rudimentary tests on the subject. The subject displayed extreme aggression and intelligence in his escape, killing one man, Theodore Hutchens, by snapping his neck and using his hand on the scanners to open the door after he was dead. Hutchens's son was present, having been on a tour of the labs with his father, when the incident occurred._

_Project 21 had shown only minor aggression in the past, scientists say, and has made several attempts at escape in the past. However, evidence of an unknown substance in the subject's blood stream suggests that unauthorized tests done on Project 21 may have been the cause of his erratic and somewhat unusual behavior. The matter is still under investigation._

_Civilians are authorized to use caution while outside, as the subject has not been recaptured. It is estimated that Project 21 can move at upwards of 150 mph (241.4 kmh), as that is the speed at which the subject fled the labs. Any information regarding the whereabouts of Project 21 should be reported immediately to the number below. A reward will be given to informers._

_Refer to __**Page A1**__, article __**Escaped**__ for more details._

I suddenly feel lightheaded as memories from that night come flooding back. I gasp, leaning against a lamp post, my head in my hand.

"Sonic? Are you alright?" Alex asks.

I try to catch my breath and wait for my head to clear. "I remember how I escaped," I say quietly.

"How?" Alex asks.

I hand her the paper and sink down to the ground, leaning my head against the lamp post, looking at the stars above. I glance at Alex as she reads, watching her expression as it changes, her eyes slowly widening and her mouth opening in surprise.

"What do I do, Alex?" I ask in disbelief. I feel numb at all these realizations, after remembering watching the life go out of the man's eyes after I killed him…

"Nothing," she says. "There's nothing we can do. All that matters is that you're free now—"

"I murdered a man, Alex!" I cry suddenly, looking at her desperately. "I murdered him in front of his son! Sure, I always wanted to escape, and I hated the humans, but I never wanted to _kill _them!"

She frowns and kneels beside me, gently putting her hand on my arm. "I know," she says. "But it's over now. There's nothing we can do."

I sink down, curled in a ball, overwhelming despair consuming me. "Can we just go back…?" I mumble.

She nods and helps me up. She unlocks and opens the hidden trap door in the fountain and leads me down a ladder to the landing, the staircase before us leading down into darkness. Without waiting, I run off down the stairs and fumble with my key card to get the door open. Finally, it slides open, and I dash to my hut as fast as I can. It's a relief when I finally fall on my bed, burying my head in the pillow. I let myself lose my composure and scream.

**((This is a really long chapter! I had a lot to cover; it took a full three days to write (with some distractions). I hope you all are enjoying this story, I'm glad to be rewriting it and sharing it. Leave your thoughts on this story in a review, I love reading every single one and they help out a ton!**

**Also, in case there is any confusion, the long, italicized part at the beginnings of these chapters are all flashbacks to when Sonic was captured, and is somehow relevant to what will happen in that chapter later on. I'll have them in nearly every chapter.**

**Thanks for sticking around!))**

**~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd**


	5. Snap

**Manipulation**

**Chapter 5 - Snap**

_- Day ?/193 -_

_Unknown fluids course through my body. I'm strapped against a metal table in order to restrict my thrashing. My very blood seems to be made up of pain, as if it had a tangible form, tightening my muscles and making me recoil like a snake confronting its only enemy. I lock my jaws shut, refusing to scream. I can't see. I have a thick blindfold fastened around my head, and no light leaks through. My ears are plugged, but I can hear mumbling. This isn't supposed to happen. This isn't like any other test I've gone through. I have a splitting headache as the drugs seem to corrupt my brain. I don't know how long this pain will go on. Hours, or maybe mere minutes later, the pain starts to subside and I relax, though my muscles still feel tight and heavy as weights. I hear more mumbling, and then I feel a prick of pain as a needle enters my neck. Not expecting it, I cry out, I scream as the fire within my body is rekindled. The pain consumes me, and my body seems to be going numb, shutting down from the pain. Someone removes the blindfold and earplugs, and I see the masked and shadowed faces of two humans. My eyes dart around, panicking, but all I see beyond their faces is glaring light. They grin, their teeth seeming to flash as my vision swims before me._

_"You're ours now, you freak of a hedgehog," one says in a coarse voice, putting some sort of strange, electric headgear on me. "You're ours."_

-:-:-:-

I wake abruptly and sit up with a gasp, a headache pounding in my brain. I look around, panic rising as I do not recognizing where I am. However, the yellowish stone walls, the view outside the small, round windows to the underground city relaxes me. I look outside and notice that the crystal that lights the city that keeps me safe is imitating dawn, glowing a soft blue. There are already people milling around, fulfilling their jobs to help the community; a cook scurries to the kitchen, a newsboy bikes on the rough streets, tossing papers at people's doors, and gardeners tend to the plants. It's a bit startling to see such normal behavior compared to everything that's going on. Even if the world is being infested by information-obsessed humans, this is peace. It's like none of it is even happening.

I decide that, since breakfast is still two hours away, it'd be worth taking a walk. I leave my hut and head to one of the entrances I haven't explored yet. It must not be used often, because the door grinds against the stone ground as it slides open. A ramp leads up to the surface, and I take off running. It twists and turns the thousands of feet it takes to get back to the surface, and I navigate the single path until I see light ahead. The light is tinted green, and as I round one last bend, I see an arched doorway covered by a curtain of ivy. I slow down to a walk, cautiously making my way forward. I stand still and listen for any telltale signs of the humans we so fear, but all I hear is gently falling water and the chirp of birds. I slowly part the curtain of leaves, and seeing no danger, I step out. It appears I'm in a crumbling building. Years of dust coat the interior, and faintly beyond it I can see faded wallpaper. The room I'm in may have once been a great living room, its fireplace serving as the entrance to the Underground. I walk out of the building, stepping over what was left of a fourth wall that had fallen away ages ago. Upon leaving the house, I seem to arrive in another world.

Around me is the dilapidated ruins of a town, with gray buildings that may have once been grand houses, now in disrepair. I'm standing in what used to be the center of attraction in the town; a beautiful green space with brick pathways. Weeds have cropped up between each bricks, and the grasses and wildflowers have become a small forest. Willow trees stand by the edge of a pond and stream, a small waterfall providing the waterflow. An old wooden fence surrounds the perimeter of the pond, now covered in moss and fungi. It is here that I lean, looking out over the peaceful scene. The sky above is lightening to the blue of early morning. I let myself soak in the early morning breeze, which blows the mist of the waterfall and the dew of the leaves at me like tiny raindrops. Gradually, the clearing wakes, with more birds chirping and fluttering about and rabbits scampering around in the underbrush. Silver fish dart back and forth in the stream below, and even a deer or two that have made the desolate town their home have come to drink from the pond, just yards away. I remain perfectly still, wishing I could spend eternity in the moment.

The serenity is broken by an unexpected beeping tone. The sound startles me so greatly that if there were no fence to keep me back, I would have tumbled down the banks into the stream. It sounds almost exactly like a sound I had heard often in my time at the labs, a sound indicating another experiment was to begin, another chance to observe my every move, my every reaction, another variable being added to see how things changed…

A stinging pain bites into my palms, snapping me out of my daze. I shake my head to clear it and realize that my fists had been clenched so tightly that my nails had dug past my gloves and pierced my skin. I took off my gloves and saw little beads of blood forming along the crescent-shaped cuts. This pain was familiar. There were many times when my fingernails, untrimmed and rough from being bitten, had scratched my palms to the point of drawing blood during painful experiments. I can faintly see white scars from these small, unhealed cuts. However, the fresh incisions don't hurt nearly as much as the pain in my head. It feels like I had fallen and hit my head on the fence on the way down. Now that the memories and visions have faded after my paranoia attack, the headache is beginning to fade as well.

The beeping sound comes again, but this time I can recognize that it has come from the comlink that had been given to me the day before. The little screen indicates that the tone is alerting that breakfast is ready. I look up at the park around me, taking in deep breaths of fresh air, which calmed me. Reluctantly, I turn my back on the waterfall and head back to the underground city.

The streets are mostly empty when I return, other than a few stragglers heading to breakfast. I decide it might be best to take the morning meal back to my room, at least until my head clears up. I enter the Cafeteria and quickly get in line to get my food, for once hoping no one would notice me.

"Hey, Sonic!"

No such luck.

Tails waves to me from his seat at a table, indicating I should come over once I get my food. Knowing I can't deny my best friends, I nod with a straight smile, wordlessly saying that I would join them. There's no way around it. I'll just have to take a nap this afternoon.

A minute later, I have pancakes and a biscuit on a tray, given to me by the cooks. I head over to the table, where a seat has been saved just for me. Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Alex are all there, their food almost gone. I take the empty seat and set my tray down.

"Hey," I say.

"Hey, where were you this morning?" Alex asks. "I came to get you for breakfast, but no one answered the door."

"Oh, I took a walk," I say, which isn't a total lie. I don't think it's a good idea to let them know that I left the city without permission. "Couldn't sleep."

"Oh, okay," she says with a small smile. "So what do you think of the city?"

"It's...very impressive," I say. "It's jarring, how different it is from...you know. Safe, comfortable, like normal life."

"That was the goal when this place was made a refuge," Amy adds in. "We wanted people to live comfortably while the Freedom Fighters figure out what's going on and how to stop it."

"We already know what's going on," I mutter, my mood souring. "Humans are infesting our world and destroying everything we love."

"Yeah, but it's like you always say," Knuckles says, clenching a fist with a smirk. "We can't give up! We can't let them beat _us_ down!"

I smile a little at his enthusiasm, looking at him. "You're right. We can't."

"Man, did those humans take your spirit away?" Knuckles asks. "Usually you _would _be the one saying that."

My smile fades and I bury my head in my arms with a groan. "Yes…" I sigh.

"He must have really had a rough time," my ears perk when I hear Tails whisper to Amy. A low sound bubbles in my throat, and I laugh a little, though the instance isn't funny at all.

"A rough time?" I say, lifting my head, and I'm smirking. "Just a rough time?" I slam my hands down on the table, standing up abruptly. "They broke me!"

My voice echoes throughout the Cafeteria as I realize that it had become completely silent. Everyone's staring at me, my friends alarmed by my sudden outburst. I discover that I'm breathing heavily, like my breath eludes me. My eyes dart from face to face, and then I'm gone.

I burst through the doors of the Cafeteria to get outside. I walk across the street to the adjacent building and lean my forehead against it, my arms against the wall over my head, trying to regain composure. The air down here no longer seems as fresh as it did when I first arrived, rather suffocating, and despite how large the domed city is, I'm beginning to feel claustrophobic in its thick stone walls. I hear the Cafeteria doors close, then burst open again as someone follows me.

"Sonic!" It's Alex. She approaches me, and I can see her black buckled boots standing beside me. She's tense. "What was that all about?"

"Leave me alone," I mumble. The lights of the place have begun to blur together, and I feel hot and unsteady on my feet, like I'm going to pass out.

"Not until you tell me what's going on," she says. Half of it sounds like she's muffled by a thick cloth. "Are you okay?"

A switch is flipped inside of me, and my hands curl into fists. "I said…" I whip my head around to glare at her, and I barely register the flash of fear on her face. I barely register that she's afraid of me. "Leave me...alone!" Suddenly I have her pinned against the wall, my nails digging into her wrists. I bare my teeth in a snarl. The fear on her face seems almost tangible, as if I could reach inside of her and grasp her terror.

"S-Sonic!" I hear her stammer, with panic prominent in her voice. The doors to the Cafeteria open once more, banging against the walls, and I jerk around to face the new arrivals, my ears perked and alert at the new sounds. Tails, Amy, and Knuckles run out and stop in their tracks when they see the savage glare I give them, warning them to keep back or get their blood shed by my hands. They look at me with wide eyes, their faces showing hurt, terror, concern...and pity.

"Don't look at me like that!" I snap through clenched teeth, advancing on them. "The pity in your eyes...makes me sick!" My hands curl and uncurl, trying to decide the best way to wipe those astounded looks off their faces. "I am not weak! I am not-"

There's a sharp crack, and I fall, pain throbbing through my skull as I'm spiked in the back of the head with something stone solid. I see a flash of red, and then I'm out, unconscious at the feet of the people whom I'd been prepared to kill.

* * *

><p><strong>((Hello, hello! Man, I'm glad to be done with this chapter. It feels like I've been writing it forever, which I have. I started writing it the day after posting a bonus chapter to <strong>_**In the Dark.**_ **And now it's almost exactly a month later. How convenient. XD Anyway, remember to review, I greatly appreciate it!))**

**~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd**


	6. Weakness

**Manipulation**

**Chapter 6 - Weakness**

_Children cower before me. There's a knife in my hand, gleaming in the dim light coming from the barred windows above. Their little ears are pushed back against their skulls in fear, holding each other, their skimpy garments already tattered and stained with dirt and their own blood. They stare up at me with wide, innocent eyes, terrified for their lives. My teeth are bared, and my fingers open and close one by one on the handle of the knife._

Kill them, _a voice keeps repeating in my head. _Kill them.

_My thoughts are the only thing keeping me from lunging at them at this moment and slashing their throats. I have to keep telling myself that this is not who I am. I can't harm innocents, I have to protect them. That's my life's motto, to protect those who can't help themselves…right?_

_But the voice tells me otherwise. _

Kill them. _My brain is fuzzy, and the image of the scared children keeps coming in and out of focus. I can't. I can't do it. _Kill them. _They're so little, so terrified, so weak. They wouldn't stand a chance against my steel knife. _Kill them. _Why are we here, in the same cell? Just to get blood on my hands? _Kill them. _I can't stop seeing flashes of red, flashes of visions of what they're telling me to do. _Kill them. _I've always liked the color red. _Kill them. _Maybe it won't hurt. I'll be quick. It would put them out of their misery. _Kill them. _I can imagine the blade sinking into their soft flesh, cringing as they scream… _Kill them. _Screams are like music. _Kill them.

_I will._

_My feet move forward. A thought tugs at the back of my mind, telling them to stop, but I ignore it. The children recoil away, their whimpering getting more frantic, but I'm deaf. All I hear is kill them, kill them, kill them, kill them. I get down on my knees, my face suddenly void of expression. My hand raises, and the knife catches a glint from the moon. _Kill them. Kill them. Kill them. _The voice is speaking faster, in tune to the pounding of my heart. My hand is placed on the chest of one small child. His breathing is quick and shallow, but not as fast as his tiny heart. Tears stream down his face. He squeezes his eyes shut as the knife comes down, sinking into his chest, a crimson rose of blood blooming at the center, and his screams fill the room, and I'm startled by just how deep and mature they are for his age..._

I wake up with a start, but the screams continue. I'm groggy and disoriented, and my throat is dry. There is a sudden sharp prick in my neck, and I can feel fluid being injected into my system. I'm back in the labs, I know it, and more tests are being done on me. I can hear a soft voice, but I can't make it out. I'm restrained, I can't move, I can't fight back, I can't-

My body relaxes from the drugs, and I no longer have the strength to struggle against the metal bands around my ankles and wrists. The screams stop, and the soreness in my throat tells me that they were mine. I'm hyperventilating, and my eyes dart around as my vision swims back into focus. Then, they land on a person in a white coat standing over me, holding a syringe with remnants of a greenish liquid. Seeing such a tool makes me tense up even further.

"What the hell did you do to me?" I hiss through clenched teeth. My vendetta of silence is broken, if these are the human labs, but there is something far too different, yet far too familiar, about it.

"A mild sedative," the familiar voice says softly. "Just to keep you from hurting yourself."

Her face swims into focus. She isn't a human, but a close friend, with her red bangs swept across her forehead, her glossy chestnut fur, and large blue eyes. She's wearing a white labcoat, and she looks concerned.

"Sally…" I choke out. My panic subsides, but my urgency doesn't. I look around to see that I'm in some sort of hospital ward. Shelves of medicine and a sink are to the right of me, and a computer and some chairs to the left. I am strapped down, but they aren't the chafing metal cuffs I thought they were, but a strong, thick fabric. I strain to remember how I got here, but I can't recall anything after going to the cafeteria to eat. "What...what am I doing here?"

"You're being held here," Sally says regretfully, "in the hospital. As you probably already know, something is very wrong with you."

I give her a confused look. "What do you mean…? There's nothing wrong with me."

"Sonic, you attacked your friends. _Our _friends," she says urgently. "Maybe you weren't aware of it, but there's no doubt about it. Everyone in the cafeteria saw you do it."

"I...attacked them?" I exclaim softly in disbelief. Then I shake my head. "No way. No way I could've." But I have little doubt. I blacked out when I escaped the prison of human research labs without a hitch, and according to newspapers, I'd been extremely aggressive, like a wild animal. And faintly I can recall times I had blacked out and gone awol inside the prison, or at least in my cell. I'd figured stress had been the only cause, but...now here? Around my friends? In the first safe place I've known in months?

"I wish I could say otherwise," Sally says, setting down the syringe and sitting in a chair next to my bed. "And I'm sorry we have to keep you here after what you've been through, but until we figure out what's going on, we need to keep an eye on you-"

"No!" I blurt out suddenly, firmly. "I can't be tied down while you do Chaos knows what to me to figure out what's wrong!" I pause and take a long, deep breath to try and relax myself enough to say evenly, "I can't handle that. Not again."

"What do you suggest we do, then, Sonic?" Sally asks. "You're clearly unstable from your experience."

"I'm fine," I snap. "It won't happen again, I promise. If something is going on with me, I'm going to find out what. Not you, or anyone else. It's my problem."

"It _becomes _our problem if you go attacking the refugees," Sally replies sternly, standing up. "Don't you see that? You're hurting people, so you have to understand why I can't let you go."

I squeeze my eyes shut, my teeth grit and my fists clenched. I want to scream, or cry, or at least do _something _to release the pressure building up in my chest. "I can't," I say, and cringe when I hear my voice crack. "I'll go insane if I'm locked up again." I look at her, my tough act disregarded, and I plead with her. "_You _have to understand what _I'm_ going through! I'm not going to let anyone control me or keep me tied down again! It hurts! It physically...mentally...hurts…" I let my head hang, refusing to look at her face. I am already showing more weakness to her, to anyone, than I ever have in my entire life. It's just shameful proof of how broken I really am. I don't even have the confidence or willpower to try and convince her to let me go. I just beg. I can feel heat behind my eyes, and a knot in my throat. Tell-tale signs that I want to cry, a feeling that took all of my strength to force down.

Sally is too silent. It scares me, but I dare not look up. How ashamed of me she must be, seeing me this way; scrawny, weak, vulnerable, more dead than alive. I certainly can't accept it myself. She doesn't say a word. I just watch her out of the corner of my eye as she turns around, opens the door, and walks out.

It's at that point that I break down. I know that I'm far too weak to even tear through the fabric tying me down. I'm being held prisoner by my friends, the people I love. And it's ripping me apart from the inside out. Tears stream down my cheeks, and I can't stop them as they drip onto the headrest beneath me. Where had I ever gotten the strength to break out of the human research facility? And why can't I call it back now? I must have been deceived about this place, the Underground. It isn't the safe haven everyone thinks it is. It's just another prison to hold me, a hell house for research and observation. I can see it already, behind my closed eyelids. Me, trapped in a cell, my friends all looking at me with those reprimanding, pitying stares that seem to haunt me everywhere I go. And no matter how much I plead, they'll never open the door. They'll never let me out. They'll test me to see how I've changed, to see whether or not it really is just insanity creating my unexplained aggression, or perhaps something else. And I'll tell them, scream at them, that it's not, that they should just let me go, that I'll hurt them if they don't-

These thoughts seem to have been running through my head for hours. My eyes closed, my tears dried on my face, my ears flat against my skull, I barely notice it when the door opens again. I don't look to see who it is. I brace myself for a lecture, a puncture, for any sort of pain I know will be coming. Instead, I'm surprised to feel the thick cloth being untied from my ankles and wrists. My fingers twitch as I feel slender fingers working on the tight knots, and I don't have to look to know whose they are. Once my hands are free, I open my eyes and rub my wrists, and sure enough, I see Sally working silently to free me.

"What made you change your mind…?" I ask softly, my voice a bit hoarse.

She shakes her head. "Nothing," she says. "I wanted to release you. But I was able to get the proof I needed to convince the Council to let you go."

"Proof…?" I say, my head lifting, ears suddenly alert in alarm.

"There are cameras monitoring you," Sally says ruefully. "I'm sorry, but we have to keep an eye on you. We're going to have to put them in your hut, too. I had to use them to show how being locked up would affect you."

My heart sinks, and I turn my head away. That's it then. My privacy has been taken away. And now anyone can see just how weak I really am.

"What council?" I ask bitterly, letting the betrayal show in my voice. "Who did you show footage of me to?"

"We're the people who help run the Underground," she explains. "I'm on it with Alex, Amy, Tails, and a couple others, seven in all. We just make decisions about certain things. You're lucky some of your friends are there, they helped vote you out of being kept here. But...there are conditions." She pauses, expecting me to react to this news, but I keep the escalating horror inside, staying silent and still. So she continues. "We let you go, but we have to track your whereabouts, and we have to monitor you in whatever way we can. You have to understand what we have to do. If the humans _let _you escape, and they can locate you, maybe using you as a spy-"

My body goes rigid. Before I know what I'm doing, my hands slam into her shoulders, forcing her back against the wall, making the little bottles of medicine rattle on the shelves. She looks at me with wide, fearful eyes, and I can see her hand moving to something in her pocket. But my grip isn't aggressive. It's fearful. And I mouth to her two words I'd never even considered speaking six months ago. Words voicing a thought, a possibility, a release, that had repeatedly run through my mind while I was captured, something I clearly did not have the strength to do myself. Startled by my whispered words and panicked expression, Sally jerks herself away from me, her hand moving away from her pocket.

"How dare you ask me to do such a thing," she snaps, holding my wrist. Her body, along with her voice, is trembling. As she continues, her voice cracks. "I could never do that. I could never kill you."

She releases my arm, and I sit down on the edge of the chair I'd been strapped to, my head hung. "But what if I am…?" I say, my voice barely above a whisper. "I'd rather die than be a spy for those leeches…"

"I know," Sally says softly. "That's why I think it's against your will."

I don't know what to say. The last thing I want is to be locked up again, but I also don't want to hurt my friends, or lead the humans to this hidden town. It looks like those are my only options. Unless…

"Then I'll leave," I say. "I'll lead them away from here."

"No," Sally says immediately. "You're in no state to be out on your own, and they'll recapture you. You need the stability of a safe home and company. It'll bring you back to your senses."

"But if they're tracking me-"

"We're underground," she interrupts. "It'll be nearly impossible for them to track you down here, if you stay in the town. If they don't see where your signal cuts off, they won't find the entrances. When you took the tour with Alex, she had a cloaking device to cover you, and when you first came, the false Chaos Emerald you were nearby was also cloaked so they couldn't trace the energy back here. Those were the only times you were outside, correct?"

I froze. It wasn't. This morning I had gone out to the abandoned garden town alone. But I'd only been out a few minutes, surely they wouldn't have had time to track me in that short time, could they? Panicking and thinking quickly, I nod and say quickly, "But it's still possible that my escape was unpredicted and we're worrying about nothing, right? They're just humans, they can't be that resourceful…"

She smiles a little. "Right, but we still should keep you monitored just as a precaution. At least for a week or two. Here, give me your wrist."

Hesitantly, I do so, avoiding her eyes. She snaps a thin, gold bracelet around my wrist. I lift my arm and observe it skeptically. It had multiple lines running across the surface, carrying the code of whatever technology was built into it.

"There is a tracker in that bracelet, plus a built-in cloaking device, in case you ever do have to leave, though I must require someone to accompany you in that situation," Sally explains. "It also will monitor your vitals and mental state. If your aggression spikes like it did in the Cafeteria, a sedative will be injected to calm you or, if needed, knock you out. I wish that feature didn't have to be added, and hopefully it never has to be used."

I swallow hard, a knot forming in my throat, but I nod stiffly. I have to remind myself harshly that it's for the best. "Can I just go home…?" I ask softly.

"Yeah," Sally says, and I look up briefly to see her looking at me sympathetically. "I'm sorry about all of this, really. It's just something we have to do. I wish it wasn't necessary, considering what you've already been through-"

"I don't need your sympathy," I say bitterly, my voice surprisingly steady. "And stop giving me that look. I'm not an injured animal." With that, I get to my feet, pull the unlocked door open, and walk out, not pausing to see the surprised and hurt expression on her face.

Keeping my head up, I make my way down the cobblestone street. As I pass, people give me various looks; confusion, pity, sadness, even disgust. My sensitive ears pick up their whispers to each other.

"Did you hear?"

"He attacked one of the Council members…"

"I heard he attacked several of them…"

"They let someone that unstable go?"

"He escaped the humans. He's bound to be a little bit nuts…"

I narrow my eyes and pick up the pace, speed walking, then running past them. I can't stand it. Their words echo in my head. They're right. I must be crazy to want to attack them. That feeling, the urge to silence their whispers, tugs at the back of my mind, but I shake it off. I am not going to do anything else to get myself in trouble, I vow silently. I'm not going to be locked up again.

It's not soon enough that I arrive at my hut. As quick as I can, I scan my key to unlock the door and, once inside, I slam my finger on the button to close it. Pressure is building up inside me, with many emotions all mixed together fighting for control inside me. Hurt. Anger. Panic. Betrayal. Fear. Paranoia. Guilt. I sink to the ground at the foot of my bed, lowering my head into my shaking hands. The life I had before this seems like nothing more than a dream now. The person I once was is nothing more than a memory. I, Sonic the Hedgehog, once known for being a cocky, optimistic, stubborn hero is now a whimpering, crying mess on the floor, praying for death to take me away from the cage of insanity inside my own head. My life had been stolen from me the day I was captured. And I fear it might just always be out of reach for the rest of my days.

* * *

><p><strong>((Hello! I just want to give Sonic the biggest hug, he's so tortured! I've been so busy lately, with play practices that are finally over, finals last week, etc. I didn't get that much free time, and it was driving me crazy. Talk about serious stress. So I decided to let go of some of it, I'd stress out Sonic with his new greatest fear! It seems like they might be putting together pieces of the puzzle as to what's wrong with Sonic. Or maybe they're not. This story can go so many places! I love it! This is definitely one of my most creative storylines, I think, and it'll only get better, as I'm adding new, unique elements to the plot as I go. Please, leave a review, tell me what you think of the story so far and what you'd like to see later on! Also, be sure to check out my other current stories, <strong>_**Sonic '06 Bloopers **_**and the bonus chapters of **_**In the Dark **_**for more exciting stories! I love you all, and I'll see you all soon!))**

**~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd**


	7. His Ghost

**Manipulation**

**Chapter 7 - His Ghost**

* * *

><p><em>- Day 156193 -_

_Computers. Screens. Wires. Beeping. Mumbling. Wet. Dark. Bright. Humans. Blood. I'd spent too long there. The sounds, the sights, they've blurred together like a picture moving too quickly as it passes. People in white cloaks moved around me, bent over me, turned their backs to me. Their black goggles made them look like giant bugs. Every time I came back to consciousness I saw the same thing. I'd gotten used to the metal pressing into my wrists, my sides, keeping me in place. I could no longer feel the bruises in their place. Even in my cell I felt the ghost of the metal shackles. I felt weak. My body was starving for nutrition, blinding me, dulling my senses. The humans had tried to get me to eat, but my teeth would sink into their hands when they offered. Their blood dripped right off their glossy white gloves in rivulets, reminding me of water sliding off the wings of a duck. I was still weak. The dry, tasteless food they force-fed me mingled with the bitter, iron-like aftertaste of their blood._

_It wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to keep my body going. I could feel my own weight, and my eyes no longer wanted to open. The beeping was getting slower, and the movement around me began to increase, like I was seeing a fast forwarded tape. It made me dizzy, and I stared at the flourescent lights above me. The bright white light was turning gray, the edges of my vision going black, creeping further, further… I heard a human shout, and the veil fell once more, but much heavier and more dense than before._

_An indeterminable, yet short time passed. A single sound rose from the dark, deaf consciousness. It was a long, unbroken tone. Then weightlessness. My eyes shot open. I was floating, and everything became crystal clear, albeit a slight white tint to everything. I heard the voices clear as if they were being spoken right in my ear. I could see everything going on. About a dozen humans in white coats had surrounded something on a table, talking in raised voices. Some hustled back and forth between the computers, which lined the mirrored walls of the room. These walls gave it a much larger depth than it actually had. Other humans held what looked like IV bags filled with varying fluids. I couldn't see who they were trying to help. To get a better sense of what was going on, I picked out voices in the noise around me._

"_...Blood pressure is dropping!"_

"_His heart stopped!"_

"_Get the defibrillators!"_

"_Project 21 is on the line!"_

"_We cannot lose another!"_

_Lose another? They've killed others. Other Mobians. And right before me, one was on the verge of death. But why was I seeing this? Why was I floating, and why couldn't I leave? It was like I was tethered to whatever was on the table by an invisible thread. I willed myself to move forward, to see over the heads of the humans. A pale face came into view, his quills askew and dirty, their original six-pointed style lost somewhere in the tangled mess. Dark, baggy circles had gathered under his closed eyes, his mouth partially opened. He was strapped down at the chest, wrists, and ankles. He was naked, with no gloves or socks or shoes to cover his hands or feet. His hands were upturned, his fingers gently curled, allowing me to see callouses on the palms and his chipped, dirty finger nails. A few small, white scars lined his hands where they had repeatedly cracked from dryness, and I knew there were more on the back. he was skinny and frail; I could count his ribs, like his skin and fur were the only thing covering his bones. Even his fur had faded to a dull, ashen blue._

_I should have known. The dying Mobian was me._

_I felt cold. That was the only feeling I had. I couldn't feel my own weight or my heart in my chest. The even, flat tone of the heart monitor filled my ears, deafening compared to the human's voices. So this was an out of body experience. I'd heard plenty of stories, but I always compared them to ghosts. I believed in ghosts, but ghosts only came about once a person was dead. I believed in them because I believed I had been one once, merely a presence in the wind. But this couldn't be like that. I wasn't dead. I wasn't dead. I wasn't dead, I wasn't dead, I wasn't dead! I can't die here!_

_The thoughts repeated in my head, angering me, and my fists clenched tightly at my sides. On the table, I saw my body jerk as defibrillators were pressed against my chest, jumpstarting my heart. But at the same time, I saw something else, just a twitch of movement out of my peripheral vision. My body's hands, though strapped down, clenched at the same time mine did. Then, I felt a tugging. Some invisible force was pulling me back toward my body. The world around me was fading, the sounds dulling to mere background noise. All I heard was the flatline, and just as everything silenced and the world went back, the sudden beep, beep, beeping picked up once more._

_-:-:-:-_

I've never realized the power staring at a ceiling could have. It reminds me of times at the labs, the strange things that happened to me. It was a mystery to me whether it had been because of their experiments or my delusions. The aggression. The out-of-body experiences. The visions of other rooms. The blackouts. The insanity itself. Everything about my being could be a fabricated part of their experiments. Perhaps what's wrong with me now is not due to trauma, but due to their plans for me. What about me is real, and what was put there by their serums and tests? What if I really had been set free to spy on my friends?

A sudden startling pounding tears me from my thoughts. My head turns toward the door, where through the round window I can see pointed orange ears. My stomach churns. Can I really face my friends now, in this state? Can they even trust me?

The pounding came again, then a small but desperate voice carries from behind the door. "Sonic, you can't stay in there forever. Please come out!"

Without really thinking, I get to my feet and walk to the door. My hand grasps the handle, and I pull the door aside. As I expected, Tails is standing on the front step, his fist raised to knock again. He looks up at me with his big, innocent blue eyes, eyes that make my heart twist. He looks startled that I had even answered. I had previously ignored his knocking, and all others who had attempted to get me to rise from my stupor on the floor of my hut. He looks distraught with worry, his eyes searching my face, my body, looking me up and down. Whatever he finds, he doesn't like. His raised hand begins to shake, and his head lowers, his eyes cast in shadow. Suddenly, I feel his fist, smaller than mine, connect with my face. I feel the sting immediately; I must have bit my cheek. My head snaps to the side and I recoil, my hand going to my suddenly numb cheek. I stare at Tails in shock. His fists are clenched at his sides, and now his whole body is visibly shaking. My cheek has begun to throb, but the rest of my body seems to have frozen in shock.

"Tails-"

"What were you thinking?!" Tails suddenly blurts out. "You attacked Alex! You were going to attack us! And right after, you get yourself out of containment and lock yourself in your room. For _days!_"

"I'm sorry-"

"You don't even know what you're apologizing for," Tails says, his voice shaking. He raises his head, and I'm startled to see his eyes swimming in tears. They drip down his cheeks like raindrops. "I don't know what's going on with you, but you're so selfish to think you can go through it alone! Amy, Sally, Alex, and even Knuckles have been worried sick about you! Me? I can't sleep at night knowing you're not okay! We're your _friends!_ Friends help each other despite the risks, whether you like it or not!" He has run out of the vigor to shout, and his head hangs once more, and his voice becomes almost a whisper, the tears dripping into his hands. "You're my brother, Sonic… I can't let you suffer on your own…Please, let us help you…"

I feel frozen. My assumptions of my closest friends' hatred and fear of me for my violent outbursts, an assumption that had grown over the past few days to the point where I was convinced by it, seems to be completely wrong. They really, truly, just want to help me. And I can't find the words to let them. Finally, my hands fall on Tails's shoulders, gentle and brotherly. He wipes his cheeks and looks up at me, his eyes glassy with tears. I give him the smallest, yet most reassuring, of smiles.

"I should have known," I say softly. "You know me better than anyone. I..._can't_ go through this alone."

Tails sniffs and looks away. "Of course you can't… You're a traumatized wreck when you're alone."

I let out a deep sigh and step aside. "Please come in…"

Tails smiles slightly and steps inside. I've only been in the Underground for less than a week and my room is already unkept. Bouts of anger have come and gone and led to the only removable objects in the room - pillows, blankets, the radio, and clean socks, gloves, and even a pair of sneakers to be scattered about. If the mess bothers Tails, he's not letting it show. I can recall more peaceful times hanging out at his workshop, listening to him animatedly talk about plans for his-formerly my-plane, while fussing about trying to find the right tools to work. Amy used to get so frustrated at his mess, the smears of oil on his fur, the tools lying wherever they had last been used, but his workshop was nothing compared to my room. Most people didn't understand or care about his nerdy tangents about mechanics, but it makes me happy to hear how excited he gets when he talks about a machine that fascinates him. In truth, I do understand some of what he talks about, but only because of hours he'd spent teaching me how to properly maintain my vehicles. It was always Tails, however, who updated such things.

These memories, no matter how pleasant, fade quickly as I remember just how much time has passed since then. How we've changed, how our world has been affected by this human infestation, may not prohibit us from ever returning to the somewhat tranquil life we had been able to live. Even then, that was when our only threat was a single madman versus hundreds of unnamed, unknown villains.

"Sonic," Tails's voice breaks me out of my daydreams. He's sitting on my bed, watching me expectantly, the sadness in his eyes now replaced with the amenable gaze of someone ready to listen. "Did you hear me?"

Ashamed, I shake my head.

Tails just smiles in understanding. "It's okay. I just want you to have someone to talk to. I asked if you could tell me what's been going on with you."

I hesitate. I don't know why, I just haven't had the need to put everything I've been feeling into words. I lean against the wall, and begin to speak.

"I'm losing my mind," I begin to explain. "Or at least, I feel like I am. My nightmares are consistent and never ending, and there is no relief in waking. I keep blacking out - several times now since I escaped. Every time I come to, my hands are bloody. My only reassurance that I haven't hurt anybody is that the door remains locked, and there is nothing broken. The traces of blood on the walls are the only explanation for my sore knuckles. I'm scared, Tails. I can't predict these episodes. They seem to come when I'm looking back at time in the prison, but that's almost all the time. I've needed the past week to myself to assess my stability. The first two times I've blacked out were when I escaped and when you guys were asking me to elaborate about my time there. I'd figured it was due to stress or adrenaline or maybe even insanity, but it's been happening without provocation." I take a deep breath to steady my shaking voice before continuing. I'm getting anxious, my cheeks feeling hot. I need to calm down. I can't pass out now. "However, I'm starting to have a theory."

"When I was at the labs, I think there were a couple of humans doing unauthorized tests on me. There were times when it was just them in a room with me strapped to a table, but I was pretty heavily drugged so it's hard to recall. Now, when I black out, I always wake with an image of a dark room and what I'm sure is the same two scientists. I keep thinking I hear voices, possibly their voices, telling me to kill, to rampage. This is always after I wake from those aggressive states, and by then they're just fading whispers. I swore I was just going insane, but now I can't get them out of my head, and the blackouts are happening more and more often, and I'm terrified-" My voice has become strained, and I'm talking fast, clawing at my rapidly beating heart. I'm beginning to feel lightheaded. "Tails, those two men…! I think they're…-"

I don't finish. A shock of cold goes through me, and my legs go out from under me. I can feel myself sliding down the wall to a slumped sitting position. My body prickles with a strange sensation, similar to when a part of my body falls asleep if I'm sitting still for too long. My eyes are focused on nothing in particular, a spot on the ceiling, everything else turning black at the edges and closing fast. My heart is fluttering in my chest, like a moth trapped in somebody's hands. Am I dying?

The last thing I see is a blur of yellow coming to my side, and then the black void swallows me.

-:-:-:-

I'm not sure how much time has passed. I'm floating in blackness, but the darkness is fading. I've felt this before. This weightlessness. It's like being a ghost. Muffled sounds make their way to my ears, and the world comes into crisp, clear focus once more.

My room here in the Underground has become familiar to me. The sloping walls, the single bed, table, and dresser in my bedroom. I've spent much time locked in this room. It has more people in it than I remember; Sally, Amy, Knuckles, and an anxiety-ridden Tails are knelt over a crumpled, dull blue form. It is me; my eyes wide and staring, my body twitching and seizing, my eyes staring off into space. My green eyes seem glazed over, and my skin looks almost white, my fur pale. Once more I am reminded of a ghost. I'm looking down at this scene from above. To my confusion, what I'm hearing and what I'm seeing do not match up. I hear two deep, hushed men's voices, sounding loud and direct, as if they're being whispered directly into my ears. It's deafening.

"Is it time yet?"

"His anxiety has risen off the charts. He's already begun to suspect."

"Doctor, what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that he's nearly ready. He's succumbing."

"Succumbing?"

"To us. To your hold on him."

"Then it's time?"

"Yes. Do we still have his last known location?"

"I've retraced it. I know exactly where it dropped off."

"Perfect. Ready the vehicles, tell them we're ready. It's time to make our move."

With a jolt and a wave of cold, I'm suddenly shot back into my body. I lurch upwards with a gasp, my heart racing in my chest. I realize how stiff my limbs are when my hand flies to my heaving torso. I can feel the concerned, panicked gazes of my friends on me. My eyes find their faces, and my words come out in a rush.

"I heard them. They know where we are. They're coming."

* * *

><p><strong>((I want to rename this story <strong>_**Blackout.**_ **Heaven knows that Sonic's doing it enough. I apologize for the belated posting lately, I'm just lazy now. It's summer, I should try to post a chapter every week. How much do you want to pay me for that to happen? Just kidding, that's just my goal.**

**Follow, favorite, and review, the works. I'm bored and glad to be done with this chapter. Also, happy belated 24th anniversary to Sonic! Pain, insanity, and out-of-body experiences are your birthday gifts.**

**Until next time, check out my other stories, **_**Sonic '06 Bloopers**_ **and bonus chapters of **_**In the Dark**_**! Bye!))**

**~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd**


	8. Variable

**Manipulation**

**Chapter 8 - Variable**

* * *

><p><em>- Day 173193 -_

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGH!"_

_My screams echoed in my ears. My palms were bleeding. Somehow my stubby nails had managed to dig in just that deeply. A warm wetness dripped down my cheeks. Tears, or blood? The metal cuffs binding me to the metal bed chafed my wrists and ankles as I strained against them, threatening to cut off blood circulation to my hands and feet. My back arched off the table like a cat as I struggled. I couldn't see. But I could feel. Oh, I could feel every last prick. There was a metal device on my head, fitting exactly as if molded. And every so often, I felt a needlepoint of pain, and an image appeared in my head._

_They were odd images. Images that switched between delicious looking spreads of food and starving people. There were human people living in filth and alleys, their ribs prominent, their faces bony and vacant. It showed Mobians in labs, every vein and tendon and bone popping as if there were no muscle or fat to separate them from the skin. And me. How I'd looked throughout the past few months. Like photographs, I saw myself in the same state as the rest of the photos, whether human or not. The only difference was how much fur one had. I almost didn't recognize those pictures. About a dozen passed before I realized that, hey, that's me._

_But these depressing images were often interrupted time and time again by mouthwatering plates of steaks, pizza, pasta, hot dogs, soups, breads, things that made my stomach feel all the more empty. It had been months since I had a proper meal. Hunger screamed in every vein of my body, yearning for the food, for the images that arose in my brain to become real. But the pictures only appeared for a few seconds, and then painfully faded away, replaced by blackness and a reminder of the overwhelming pain I was feeling. I wasn't allowed to savor the photos. Then I felt another prick in my head, another image, and the cycle repeated._

_That torture went on for hours. I had never screamed so much._

_Only when my throat was raw from screaming, my mouth as dry as sandpaper, my voice completely gone, did the images stop. I spent minutes in darkness, my chest heaving as if I couldn't catch my breath, as if there was a hole in my lungs that was letting the air escape. My entire body was freezing cold: my toes, my hands, every part that touched the metal table, which now felt like ice. There was a ringing in my ears, as if I had deafened myself. I didn't hear the door open, or the footsteps as someone approached me. But as soon as I felt this person's hands on my head, I lurched forward. My jaw clenched around something solid, and my teeth sunk into something fleshy. Blood flooded my mouth, hot and viscous and tasting like salt and iron. Someone swore, and something as hard as wood hit me on the head, or on the metal helmet that framed my head, which caused me to release the stranger. The darkness I saw was lit by stars, but I hadn't had a sense of balance in the first place. Finally, the helmet was lifted off, and now my head felt cold where it had been, and the blindfold over my eyes was removed._

_A door behind me opened and closed. There was no one there anymore._

_I blinked a few times in the dim light of the room. The table I was strapped to was tilted up at about a 45 degree angle so I could take in my surroundings. It was a small, rectangular room, similar to what you'd see in crime shows as an interrogation room. It even had the one-sided window, seen by me as a mirror, and the table a few feet ahead of me. And on this table was everything I had seen in the pictures. The pizza, the steak, the bread, the hot dogs, the soups, the pasta… It was all there, laid out like a perfect buffet. But my body felt numb. I could no longer struggle. I could no longer fight. I could only stare longingly, though every fiber of my being willed me towards it. After the longest thirty seconds of my life, the cuffs slid away. To my own surprise, I didn't stumble. I didn't fall. I slid off the table and landed on my feet, my legs shaking. And one unsteady step at a time, as if drawn toward it automatically, I walked to the food. I didn't think. I didn't care. I could eat._

_A single chair was set before the table. I unconsciously pulled it out and sat down. And then I began to eat. I ate more than I had in weeks, in months, in what felt like years. I hadn't a care for manners or consideration; as far as I was concerned, I was alone and allowed to eat. So I did._

_It didn't even occur to me how I had danced right into their hands._

-:-:-:-

In minutes, the town seems to have become a base of operations for an army. Normal citizens have begun running back and forth between houses, each time returning with a weapon or armor or other piece of gear. I'm forced to sit back and watch, my jaw set, my fists clenched. Amy has me by the arm as if to keep me from rushing out and joining them. And in my head, words repeat over and over;

"_They're coming. They're coming. They're coming. They're coming."_

And it's all my fault.

The sound of the alarms fill my ears. Red lights on the walls rotate and flash, warning of the threat we know is coming. How soon will they come? Had what I heard been something said hours, maybe days ago? Will we be ready in time? These questions make my stomach twist in knots. Vaguely, I recall seeing other suffering Mobians through windows and doors, further deteriorating every time I saw them. It makes my heart hurt. Women, children, innocent people, all suffering at their hands, and it's about to happen all over again. I whip around to face Amy, who's still holding me firmly.

"You have to let me go," I insist.

"Sonic, you know you're not fit to fight," she coaxes. "I know you want to help, but you've done enough already. You need rest."

"You don't get it!" I snap, roughly pulling my arm away, her fingers tightening impulsively. Her nails leave white marks on my arm as I jerk it out of her grasp. She looks at me in surprise, looking on edge. There's no mistaking it. There's fear in her eyes. She expects me to turn on her. "You didn't spend six months with them," I continue, forcing my voice to remain steady, a ruse that quickly fails as my voice rises. "You didn't watch them torture your friends! I have done _nothing_ to help! I've been the victim, and it's about time I'm allowed to get my revenge!"

"Revenge isn't the answer, Sonic…" Amy says carefully, but there is a weariness in her voice as if she's said this countless times. Her hands are out tentatively. I take a step back, seeing her outstretched hands, palms toward me, as the scientists' hands, as if calming a savage and frightened animal. "It'll only make things worse…"

"It can't get much worse," I said savagely, my fists clenching. "I already know what they can and will do. And if we-if _I_ don't do something, we'll all be captured!"

"You'll be no good to them in your current condition!" Amy protests, sensing my urgency to leave. "You're traumatized… You need to get help—..."

"There is no other condition for me to be in, Amy," I say firmly, and I turn my back on her, running off. I hear her make a sound of protest, but I don't bother to look back.

The streets are bustling with people running back and forth between houses to prepare for the oncoming threat. I push past them, zig zagging between pedestrians as they run about. It occurs to me that I don't know exactly where I'm going, or what I plan on doing. I'm simply following initial instincts; to put myself between the ones I care about and oncoming danger. It's a relief to realize that these instincts are still intact after everything I'd gone through; that I'm not completely rewired.

I eventually find myself heading to the City Hall, which doubles as a control room for the entire Underground. In the back rooms, computers are set up to track who's coming and going from the sanctuary, as well as logistic functions like the electricity, water, and making sure the town's population stays consistent and regulated. I'd seen it once before on the initial tour of the place. A checkpoint marks the room's entrance, a guard standing in front.

"Halt," he demands as I approach, skidding to a stop.

"I need to get in," I blurt out quickly.

"Why?" the guard asks in the same voice.

"I want to help with the fight," I say, words like "war" or "extermination" sitting on my tongue in place of the last word. "I know the enemy better than anyone, I _can_ help."

"You are unauthorized," the guard states blatantly. "You've been labeled as a Variable."

I blink at the word, confused. "Variable? Variable in what?"

"A variable toward our destruction," says a familiar voice. Alex steps out of the focal point. Her expression is cold and steady, the complete opposite of the terrified girl I had attacked days ago. Her wrists are wrapped in gauze where my nails had scratched and broken skin.

Her words felt like an unexpected punch to the stomach, causing me to physically gasp.

"Meaning that you're unstable," Alex continues. "Unpredictable. We don't know when you'll have one of your...episodes...next, or what provokes them, or even what's causing them. And we don't have the technology to find out. So you are a Variable, meaning you'll have to be watched at all times and be with someone at all times, with restricted access to public resources."

"Hey, it was one time!" I protest desperately. "It's not going to happen again, I promise—..."

"Can you really keep that promise, Sonic the Hedgehog?" Alex asks. "I saw the tape of you in the Infirmary. You can't even control your own emotions."

I'm taken aback by her sudden harshness, then I grit my teeth, my fists clenching. "Is that so wrong?!" I snap at her. "Do you expect me to go around with a smile on my face all the time, even at home when I don't know if anyone's watching? To hell with that!"

"This is what I'm talking about," she says calmly. "You don't know how to control your emotions in public." Her gold eyes flick to my fists.

It dawns on me how right she is. My hands slowly uncurl, and I become aware of the tightness in my chest that's causing my breaths to come fast, short, and uneven. This manner of breathing slows, becoming less sharp and more regulated as I look at her. Her expression hasn't changed.

"I need to get in," I say again, breathlessly.

She shook her head.

"Then what do I do?" I ask her tersely. "I need to help. I need to do something."

"Join the brigade at one of the entrances," she instructs with a sigh. I nod and turn my back to her, about to walk off, when her hand, her thin, delicate fingers, perfect for piano, seize my wrist, forcing me to turn towards her. Her expression startles me. Her eyes are hard as stone, lacking any sort of compassion, her jaw is set and her mouth forms a hard line. The lines in her throat stand out as she looks up at me. I'm still a head taller than her.

"If you dare to lay a finger on _anyone_, even if it's _remotely_ threatening, I will not hesitate to throw you out of the city," she hisses, her words as sharp as a razor. "If you _hurt_ anyone in our community, I will lock you up like the humans did, and you will stay there until this war is over and we can get you help. Understand?"

I swallow, feeling like a rock is lodged in my throat, and nod. I'm the timid one now.

"Good," she says, releasing me suddenly. I take a few steps backwards, waiting to see if her expression would change. It didn't. So I turn around and bolt out of the hall.

-:-:-:-

I know exactly where I'm needed; the entrance that leads to the ruined gardens I had visited that day, not long after my arrival. That's the only time I can think of where I had left without telling anybody. If I _am_ acting as a tracking beacon for the humans, that's where they would have last pinged me at. That is, if they really do lose my signal underground. I run along the perimeter of the city, along the gradually sloping stone walls. A barricade of people surround the said entrance, all armed with guns, blasters, bows, spears, as well as an array of other weapons. I edge my way through the crowd until the people lining the very front stop me; the people with guns. The Mobian barricade forms a semicircle around the door, and it's surprisingly quiet. Everyone is poised and ready. I take my post at the center right behind the shooters. It's all a waiting game now. I have a direct view to the door, so I'll be watching when the humans walk in, and when they're shot dead.

Shot dead. Do they know that we expect them? Do they know of our firepower? If I can tap into their conversations, or at least the two scientists that keep appearing in my dreams, does that mean that they can tap into mine? I'm a walking experiment to them. How deep does their control — no, their _influence_ — run? They can't be controlling me. My will is too strong for that. Isn't it?

Isn't it?

_To my own surprise, I didn't stumble. I didn't fall. I slid off the table and landed on my feet, my legs shaking. And one unsteady step at a time, as if drawn toward it automatically, I walked to the food. I didn't think. I didn't care. I could eat._

As if drawn toward it automatically.

Chaos...I really am their puppet, and I didn't even realize it. Not until now. My eyes dart around, looking for a way out. I can't be trusted here. I'll endanger them, I'll lead them right into the humans' clutches. The door. The door ahead of me. I can push the people aside and make a break for it, saving them all the trouble. I can save them by leaving—

My hand is on the shoulder of the shooter in front of me, ready to push, when an explosion echoes throughout the city at one of the entrances. And it's coming from behind us.

* * *

><p><strong>((I feel so surreal when writing these, like I've become the character, entered their world. I never know what to say when I finish the chapter. I'm glad I finished it, though. It's been far too long.<strong>

**Read (you just did, oops), review, rate, favorite, follow, whatever it is people do. XD Until next time, check out my other stories, **_**In the Dark**_ **and **_**Sonic '06 Bloopers**_ **for more Sonic! Seeeee yaaaaa!))**

**~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd**


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